Self-unloading truck beds and trailers are invaluable in many industries for hauling and storing bulk materials including commodities and refuse. For example, in the agricultural industry, self-unloading bulk material beds often take the form of trailers or trucks and are used to transport commodities from the field to storage and processing facilities.
Generally, self-unloading bulk material beds include a conveyor system, such as a conveyor belt or chain and belt assembly, which moves material from inside the self-unloading bulk material bed to a discharge opening. This conveyor system discharges materials when the materials reach a shaft around which the conveyor rotates. When the conveyor rotates around the shaft, the materials transported on the conveyor naturally fall to a receiving target. Thus, during the unloading process, the discharge opening of the self-unloading bulk material bed and the receiving target must be aligned.
If, for instance, the self-unloading bulk material bed is part of a trailer, the trailer often must be backed up to the receiving target location. For example, if the commodities are held in the trailer and are to be transported into a building for processing, the trailer may be backed up to the building's conveyor system, which moves materials from outside the building to inside the building. A discharge opening associated with the self-unloading bulk material bed component of the trailer will be positioned over the building's conveyor system. When the self-unloading bulk material bed's conveyor system begins moving, the commodities in the trailer will be discharged onto the building's conveyor system through a discharge opening. While passing through this discharge opening, the commodities are guided by a pair of tail fins associated with the self-unloading bulk material bed. Generally, one tail fin is located on each lateral surface of the discharge opening.
Although self-unloading bulk material beds are incredibly useful for unloading materials in situations such as the one described above, the current mechanism for discharging materials from a self-unloading bulk material bed onto receiving equipment is insufficient.
Often, the discharge opening of the self-unloading bulk material bed creates a bottleneck. The self-unloading bulk material bed's conveyor moves too quickly for the size of the discharge opening and the materials begin to “creep” up the tail fins. Ultimately, this build-up causes commodities to fall from the self-unloading bulk material bed, miss the receiving target, and hit the ground. Many commodities that fall to the ground must be discarded as waste materials. As a result, valuable materials are damaged and wasted and resources must be expended to clean up the mess. Furthermore, a buildup of materials can place strain on the self-unloading bulk material bed and related equipment, resulting in equipment damage.
The shaft mount used to hold the shaft around which the conveyor rotates creates additional problems. Currently, during the unloading process, the shaft mount sidewalls damage commodities that are discharged from the self-unloading bulk material bed because commodities that pass by the shaft mount sidewalls are often bruised or crushed.
In addition to the concerns associated with discharging materials from the hauler, there are significant issues associated with loading materials into a self-unloading bulk material bed. When loading commodities such as potatoes into a self-unloading bulk material bed, a piler is often used. This piler uses a boom to transport commodities over the sides of the self-unloading bulk material bed, but the piler is often not long enough to reach its boom to the inside front wall of a long self-unloading bulk material bed. This problem is exacerbated because it is frequently impossible to line-up the piler and the self-unloading bulk material bed in a straight, square manner.
What is needed is a method and apparatus that allows a user to efficiently load and unload a self-unloading bulk material bed without damaging the self-unloading bulk material bed, the piler, or the materials to be loaded and unloaded.